Monday, April 23, 2012

Feature of the Day #39: Clay Lick Creek Pottery

Greetings!
Today's feature goes to Clay Lick Creek Pottery, AKA, Karen Fiorino and her fun and creative pottery.
Fiorino has been creating pottery for about 15 years. It all started with a few ceramic classes, taken on the advice of her friend. The wheels, both literal and metaphorical, started turning and Fiorino fell in love with the process. She bought her own throwing wheel, paid off her debts, quit her day job, and began her pursuit of a life of art. However, life threw her a curveball with the sudden arrival of her son causing her to slow down for a time. Yet she never quit. She now travels to various art fairs where her work is well received. In 2010, she introduced her work to the internet, and thus, the world. As for the name of her store, Clay Lick Creek Pottery, it came from the creek that flows across the land she lives on.

Fiorino specializes in functional pottery such as serving bowls, mugs, pet bowls, plates, and much more. She believes that, "people should have beautiful objects in their homes and use these beautiful objects in their everyday life." Nature serves as Fiorino's inspiration, "from the smallest to the largest of creatures-from the colors of geological formations to the colors of the sunrise and sunset." Her education includes a B.S. and M.A. in Zoology, specializing in Ichthyology (fish), which she draws on for a lot of ideas. Her sense of humor also shines through in her light-hearted and fun creations, which leads to vibrant, joyful, and delightful pottery that is as unique as she is.
This is what Fiorino has to say about her creative process and what her work means to her:

Oftentimes, I have no idea what my work will look like until I am done, the designs simply develop while I am working on them. My goal for each piece is that when people come in contact with my work, they will experience joy and positive energy. One of my favorite things to hear from people who have my work, is how much they enjoy my pottery, how it makes them happy. If one of my purposes in life is to spread happiness, I believe I am succeeding one person at a time."

During the creation process itself, Fiorino uses an electric wheel or slab roller. She uses a traditional red earthenware clay, which is one of the oldest materials used in pottery. It is less strong, less tough, and more porous than stoneware, but is used extensively for tableware and decorative objects because it's much easier to work with. After the basic form is thrown, the bottoms are trimmed to create a foot ring, then are signed and dated. The pottery is then fired in a kiln to bisque it. Bisque refers to pottery that has been fired, but not yet glazed. Fiorino then glazes her pieces with homemade majolica glaze, which is the opaque white background glaze. From there, she uses a brush to paint ceramic colorants onto the raw glaze surface. Lastly, the pieces are placed back in the kiln to seal the glaze surface. The results are one-of-a-kind ceramic pieces that dance with color and life. Each one unique, inspired, and a wonderful combination of beauty and functionality.
Make sure to check out Fiorino's Etsy shop for over a hundred different hand-made beautiful pottery creations! http://www.etsy.com/shop/ClayLickCreekPottery
Follow her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/claylickcreekpottery
Check out her official website: www.claylickcreekpottery.com
And watch her how-to videos here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM10EQOSv1Q&context=C3bacd13ADOEgsToPDskKp6wUDmXN8VT62z5bpticl